Sleeping Beauty
by Orwell is watching-xoxo
Summary: Every time Vince looked at his partner, he realized just how much he truly loved her. On the night that he rescues her from The Lich, his word choice may just mean 'make it or break it' for the two of them. Vinwell.


**Hey everyone! This is just a little one-shot that helped me through the graduation jitters. Here's yet another new ending to episode eight. **

**I own nothing.**

_**Sleeping Beauty**_

Vince couldn't have been more relieved when he scooped his partner up into his arms after that week that she had gone missing. The vigilante had told her from the beginning that this whole Conrad Chandler thing was unnerving. No matter what the two of them did, nothing had seemed to add up when they put their heads together. And, even though the missing puzzle pieces did finally come together, it didn't change the fact that his partner had to go through some serious trauma to get the answers in the first place. Vince owed her… well, he owed her everything. From day one, she had been nothing but good to him. And how did he repay her? By letting her get kidnapped? Real suave, Faraday…

After the two of them left the Carnival of Crime, Orwell was fully expecting to go back to her hideout. Little did she know that her partner would be taking matters into his own hands. Honestly, though, did she really expect any different of him? He had admitted to being in love with her. It probably wasn't meant for her to hear it, but for the few moments that she was wavering in and out of consciousness, she heard Vince talking to her.

_*Flashback*_

_Vince was sitting next to her as he waited for Max to come back with one of his home remedies that would hopefully bring her to again. The vigilante gently cupped his partner's chin in his hands as he smiled down at her sadly. Why did he let her go out on something so risky like that? He should have known better than to turn his phone off on the day that she was kidnapped. If he could have answered her phone call, she wouldn't be fighting to wake herself up._

"_Orwell, I know you're probably going to hate me when you wake up. Hell, I even hate myself right about now," the sandy blonde wet his lips in anticipation, eyes darting all across the room. When he finally looked back down at his partner, his naturally calm blue eyes were full of tears. "I wish that I could have kept you from going to the Orchard. If I could, I would gladly ask for a do-over."_

_The sleeping brunette had finally started to regain consciousness at this point. She wanted to say something back to him so bad. He was being far too hard on himself._

"_Max says that you're going to be fine," Vince added, taking in a rather deep breath. "He knows what he's doing. You're going to wake up soon and I promise you that I will make it all up to you."_

_Orwell's eyes twitched a little, tears accumulating at the corners. Could he have made this anymore difficult?_

_The last thing that he did was place a single kiss on the crown of her head and murmur "I love you," into her hair._

_*End Flashback*_

Vince gently placed the brunette on his beat up couch, his cape still tightly wrapped around her shoulders. The vigilante thought that she looked absolutely adorable like that. She could have kept it and the sandy blonde wouldn't have cared any.

Orwell was now fully awake by this point. The hallucinations came and left as they pleased. It wasn't very fair to the blogger, but at least she could say that she was in reality again. Not that she would have minded staying with her _husband _Vince, but still…

"Okay, so do you need me to get you anything?" the vigilante started, gently kneeling down in front of the brunette.

"Some coffee would be good," Orwell began with a weak little smile.

"Coffee it is," Vince threw back at her with an easy grin. "I don't have anything to snack on, though. Want me to go get something?"

"Vince," the brunette spoke, watching her partner stop dead in his tracks from trying to get up. "I'm not sick, alright? So you can stop babying me."

The vigilante smiled back at her sheepishly. "I'm not trying to baby you. It's just…" he trailed off, his smile fading with it, "I was so worried about you, you know?"

"Well, I'm here now aren't I? What's there to be worried about?" Orwell asked, instinctively slipping her hand in his to give it a gentle squeeze.

Vince squeezed the brunette's hand back and sat down next to her. "I know that. I just… I almost lost you, Orwell. It doesn't matter what Max said, I saw you. You were getting paler and your breathing started to get a little choppy."

The blogger looked up at her partner, brown eyes gently taking in blue eyes. "I thought that was all the show of the drug. To give the appearance of death."

"It was," the vigilante murmured. "But in your case, you had been administered more than a lethal dosage of that hallucinogen."

Orwell instantly paled at that, despite her rosy red cheeks. "So, in other words, I was dying."

Vince swallowed a lump that was caught in his Adam's apple. "Yeah. You were dying."

The brunette took in a deep breath. So _that _was why he was so freaked out.

The vigilante was caught off guard as his partner sat up in her seat. He had been lost in his thoughts at that point. He really wanted her to know what he said to her while she was still sleeping, but he didn't know how he could actually get it out.

Orwell thought about just telling him that she heard half of his little monologue; but she stopped herself because she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. If he meant it, he could say it to her now, right?

Both of them ended up calling each other's names at the same time. The brunette's heart dipped as her partner's voice registered, as did the sandy blonde's heart.

"You go first," Vince replied easily, sporting a tiny smile.

"I… heard you talking to me when we were back at the carnival. Not just when Max was in the room, but when you were alone in the room with me. Didn't hear it all, but… I heard enough," Orwell began; her eardrums were throbbing painfully at this point.

The sandy blonde took in a deep breath before responding. "I meant every word, you know." He turned his body to face her, so incredibly nervous.

"You really love me, Vince?" the blogger asked. Every second that passed made her anxiety shoot up to an astronomical level.

Vince nodded slowly. "Dana has moved on. There's no reason for me to keep hoping that things would work out for us in the end," he smiled back at her, "especially now that I have you."

Orwell craned her neck in hopes to kiss her partner on the cheek. However, when her partner met his lips with hers, that kiss on the cheek seemed so mediocre.

This kiss lasted for as long as either the blogger or vigilante could hold it. Vince carefully slid his arm around Orwell's waist and guided her into his lap. From there the kiss was broken quickly, only for it to be picked up as soon as it was left off.

"I love you too, Vince," the brunette replied against his lips. She had forgotten about her craving for coffee. By that time, the only thing she was craving was her partner's lips melding over hers again and again.

**By the time I post this, I will have already graduated. But until then, I definitely need fluff to comfort me. Hope you all enjoyed!**


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